Erdoğan urges Armenia to embrace peace amid Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged Armenia to seize the opportunity for peace, following the recent ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling on it to "hold the hand of peace extended to it and take sincere steps."

"New windows of opportunity have opened for comprehensive normalization in the region. I believe that this opportunity should be seized," Erdoğan stated during a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart, İlham Aliyev, amid his one-day visit to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave on Sept. 25.

Erdoğan's comments came in the wake of a 24-hour military operation by Azerbaijan that compelled separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh to agree to lay down their weapons and engage in talks for the region's reintegration into Azerbaijan, ending three decades of separatist rule.

"I congratulate the victorious Azerbaijani army for its historical success and its humanitarian attitude towards civilians," he remarked.

In the aftermath of the ceasefire, Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies, while the Armenian government has reported that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents fled to Armenia as of midday on Sept. 25.

Nagorno-Karabakh, once designated an autonomous region within Azerbaijan during Soviet times, saw the Armenians gain control and capture neighboring territories in the First Karabakh War, which lasted from 1988 to 1994, resulting in thousands of casualties and widespread displacement.

In 2020, Azerbaijan regained control of significant portions of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh following a war.

Erdoğan's visit to Nakhchivan was aimed at discussions with Aliyev about bilateral relations and regional and global issues. Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani enclave isolated from the mainland by Armenian territory, shares a narrow border with Türkiye.

During his visit to the region, Erdoğan inaugurated a new gas pipeline, the construction of which was agreed upon by Türkiye and Azerbaijan in 2020 under a memorandum of understanding. The 85-kilometer-long gas pipeline will stretch from Türkiye's Iğdır to Sederek in western Azerbaijan and will have an annual capacity of 500 million cubic meters.

The project will be a joint effort between Türkiye's crude oil and natural gas pipeline trading company BOTAŞ and Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR.

The two leaders also discussed the opening of the Zangezur corridor to Azerbaijanis, which aims to link Nakhchivan with the mainland, further connecting to Türkiye's railway and highway networks. The Azerbaijani government has planned to put the Azerbaijani section of the corridor into operation by 2024.

Armenia has committed to ensuring the safety of transport links between the western regions of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan to facilitate the unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions. However, it remains opposed to the corridor's launch and has not taken concrete steps toward restoring its section of the corridor.